Apparatus for filling molds with foamed latex



Nov. 6, 1951 R. HERRLY APPARATUS FOR FILLING MOLDS WITH FOAMED LATEX M a 7 a w a "a Filed June 15, 1948 r I v I I v I r o 1 1 I 1 INVENTOR. FAY/{Id/Vfi A a ray v ew 6. mm

ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 6, 1951 APPARATUS FOR FILLING MOLDS WITH 'FOAMED LATEX IRaymondAflerrly, SouthBend, Ind., assignor to United States Rubber Company, New York, N. Y.,.a corporation of New Jersey Application J line-15, 1948',"Seria'1 N 33,070

2Claims.

1 This invention relates toapparatus forfilling vulcanizing molds with foamed .latex or other foamed dispersion of rubber-like materialpand more particularly to apparatus for forcing the foamed latex into a closed mold to fill the mold completely without unduly crushing the foam.

It is old to produce foamed latex and employ a gravity flow to deliver it to the molding position as shown, for example, in th Blair et al. Patent No. 2,441,235 for apparatus for making sponge rubber articles. It is also old to use a mechanical pressure feedto force foamed latex into a vulcanizing mold, but this mechanical feed tends to crush the foam and is otherwise unsatisfactory.

In producing foamed latex :articles such as sponge rubber cushions it has been the usual practice to make up the foamed latex and pour it into an open mold, and then .move themold cover to the closed position, but in order to make sure that enough foamedlatex is placed in the mold to fill all portions of the same when the cover is closed, it has been the practiceto place an excess amount of foamed latex in the mold so that some will flow out around the edge as the cover is closed. This however wastes the material in the form ofzfoam flashscrap.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide'apparatuscapable of-forcing' foamed latex into a closed'mold' under sufficie'ntpressure to fill the moldquickly and completely without unduly crushing the'foam; to thereby'reduce waste of the foamed latex, and insure that the molds will be completely: filled 'soias to produce high grade cushions.

This is accomplishedb 'fforcing liquid latex into a receptacle placed in'a closed container provided with means for maintaining a higher than atmosphereair pressure therein, and by causing the'latex to foam 'in'such receptacle "so that the above atmosphere pressure-will serveto force the foamed latex out "of the 'contain'erand into a closed mold to fill the same.

By placing the receptacle in which the ilatex is foamed in a larger closed container having a slightly elevated air pressurethelatex is foamed while the air pressure remains the "same inside and outside the cells "of the foamedllatex. It is this equal pressure inside and outside the cells that prevents the light creamy :fr'oth or foam from being'cru'shed by'the above atmosphere air pressure.

The various 'featuresof the present invent-ion will be further understood "fromxtheztollowlng description when rread'.;in;.nonnection iwithsthe accompanying drawing disclosing one goodpractical embodiment of the invention and wherein:

Fig. 1 isa vertical sectional view through apparatus for producing foamed latex and forcing it into a closed mold; and

Fig. 2 is a sectional view through a mold having the cover thereof raised.

The apparatus employed to foam the latex or other dispersion-ofrubber-like material within the air-tight container may be constructed as heretofore. It preferably consists of what is herein called a prefrother in which the'latex is foamed or frothed, and a sensitizing tub which receives the frothed latex and mixes therewith a sensitizing fluid to cause the foamed latex to set quickly. The prefrother and sensitizing tub are mounted in said container and -may, if desired, be constructed as disclosed in theabove mentioned Blair et al. patent. 1

In accordance with the present invention the 'prefrother and sensitizing tub are mounted within-an air. tight container Hi having the top, bottom and side walls shown. In order to maintain an above atmosphere pressure within this container air under pressure is supplied thereto by a pipe II having a pressure reducing valve 12 of'usual construction, and a pressure indicating gauge 1-3, and this air pipe is shown as leading 'to the interior of the container Ill through the top wall thereof. The container is also preferably provided with the safety valve 14 through which air may escape if an unduly high pressure should be established therein.

Within the air tight container ID is mounted a :prefrother comprising a substantially cylind'r-i'cal receptacle l5 having a rounded lower end, and adischarge spout l6 near its upper end. Extending downwardly from the bottom of this receptacle is a small closed casing i! which is supplied'with air under; pressure by a pipe (8 that extends inwardly through a wall of the container 10- and into the casing H. This pipe provided with the hand operated valve 19. The airsupplied to the casing I! passesupwardly through an aperture plate 28 provided betweenv the casing I! and lower end of the receptacle l5. Liquid latex containing a vulcanizing agent and other compounding ingredients is suppli'ed by a pipe 2! having the hand valve .22. This pipe extends through the bottom wall of .the container Ill and upwardly through the base 'of the casing l'l intothe lower portion otthe' receptacle l:5"as shown in Fig. 1. The arrangement-issuch-thatithe foaming orfrothing N of the liquid latex-is greatly facilitated ,by..-the

discharge pipe 33.

air under pressure which passes upwardly through the apertures of the plate 20 to become dispersed throughout the mass of latex in the receptacle IS.

The foaming of the latex is further facilitated by a power driven whip or heater 23 which is rotated about its own axis and moves bodily around the interior of the receptacle l5 adjacent the side walls thereof with a planetary movement. This whip is driven by an electric motor 24 having the horizontally extending arm 25 which moves the whip bodily about the axis of the motor 24 and rotates it about its own axis. As the liquid latex is converted into foamed latex F and this foam rises to near the upper end of the receptacle l5 it will be discharged through the spout l6 into a sensitizing tub 25 which is also mounted within the air tight container in position to receive the foam F as it is discharged from the spout Hi.

It is highly desirable to add to the foamed latex a sensitizing fluid which will cause it to set quickly, but since this fluid speeds up the setting action of the latex it should not be added until shortly before the foamed latex is delivered to the mold or other container, where it is to set or become vulcanized to form a cellular mass of sponge rubber. The tub 26 is provided with a power driven whip or stirrer 2'! that is driven by a motor 28 and is supported by a horizontally extending arm 29 so that this whip is rotated about its own axis and with a planetary movement about the axis of the motor, like the whip 23 above described. The horizontal arm 29 also has attached thereto the scrapper 38 adapted to scrape the foamed latex away from the walls of the tub 25.

The sensitizin fluid is supplied to the tub 26 in accurately controlled amounts by a pipe 3| having a hand operated valve 32, and this pipe 3| extends through a side wall of the container [0 and downwardly into the upper end of the tub 26.

Since the prefrother receptacle l and sensitizing tub 26 are both mounted within the pressurized container l0, and the latex is foamedin the receptacle l5 under this slightly elevated air pressure, the internal and external air pressure of the cells forming the latex foam will be the same. ject the freshly formed latex foam to a slightly higher than atmospheric pressure without crushing the cells, and to employ this slightly elevated pressure to force the foam into all portions of the mold. The sensitizing agent causes the foam to set quickly in the mold to an irreversible porous gel, and after gelling the pores break down and become interconnected to form a porous sponge product.

The sensitized foamed latex is discharged from the lower end of the tub 26 through a pipe 33 that extends downwardly through the bottom wall of the container III as shown. The air within the closed container I0 is, as above stated,

maintained at a pressure above room pressure,

In this manner it is possible to sub- 1 the foam leading to the I The apparatus of the present invention so far described is shown as being employed to force the foamed latex into a closed mold. The discharge pipe 33 is therefore shown as having connected thereto the flexible pipe 34 having attached to its lower end a nozzle 35, which nozzle hasa tapered end adapted to fit snugly in a correspondingly shaped hole 35 formed in the cover or top plate 31 for the mold receptacle 38. It is desirable to provide the discharge pipes 33, 34 with a quick acting valve so that the foamed latex being forced through the pipe 33 may be quickly and accurately controlled. Therefore a quick acting valve is provided having a casing 39 attached to the lower end of the discharge pipe 33 and upper end of the flexible pipe 34, and within this casing is provided a valve diaphragm 40 which is urged to its retracted or open position by a coil spring 4|. This diaphragm is held in its closed position by compressed air supplied to the casing 39 by the pipe 42 to force the valve against its seat as shown in the drawing. Air under pressure is admitted to the casing 39 from the pipe 42 when a valve 43 is turned to one position and is exhaused from the casing through the outlet 44 when this valve is turned to a second position.

The mechanism described is illustrated in the drawing as employed to supply foamed latex to a closed mold of the general type used to produce sponge rubber cushions, but this mechanism may be employed to fill various types of molds with foamed latex. The mold shown in the drawing has its cover 31 attached by hinges 45 to the body portion 38, and attached to the inner face of the cover 31 are the protruding posts 46 adapted to project downwardly into the mass F of foamed latex to form holes in the finished cushion that extend inwardly from one face thereof in a well known manner. As the foamed latex is forced into the mold under pressure by the means shown the air confined therein will escape through small apertures 41 provided at the upper ends of the posts 46.

It is found in practice that the apparatus herein described works in a highly satisfactory manner to fill closed molds with foamed latex under pressure so as to fill completely the molds without unduly crushing the foam, and that by maintaining the air within the container [0 at a pressure of about one pound above the surrounding atmosphere a desired head pressure is produced upon the mass of sensitized foamed latex within the tub 26 that serves to force the foamed latex rapidly through the discharge pipes 33, 34 and into all portions of the closed molds without appreciably crushing the foam. The foam is forced into the closed mold 31, 38 until it can be seen in the air'venting apertures 41, the appearance of the foam in these apertures shows that the mold is full. By employing the quick acting diaphragm valve shown one mold after another can be filled completely without spilling or wasting the foamed latex.

In order to speed up production it may be desirable to place the molds to be filled on a conveyor belt 48 adapted to convey them past the station where they are filled with foamed latex and then on to a vulcanizer, not shown. The container I6 is shown as supported by rails 45 above the conveyor belt t. One wall of the container is preferably pro" "led with a window 58 through which theioperations can be observed.

'The'apparatus of the present invention serves to'eliminatethe foamfiash scrap. which is pro,-

duced when the mold is filled while the cover is open, and the cover is then forced to the closed position so that some foam is forced out. The pressure feed serves also to fill the mold quickly and completely, so as to cause the foamed latex to conform to every portion of the interior of the mold and thereby produce well molded high quality cushions.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for filling vulcanizing molds with a foamed dispersion of a rubber-like material, comprising an air-tight container, a prefrother receptacle within the container and having a power driven beater to whip the material and tubes for supplying a liquid dispersion material and air to the lower portion of the receptacle, a sensitizing tub positioned in the container to receive the discharged foam from said receptacle, a foam delivery pipe leading from the bottom of the tub through a wall of the container to a closed mold, and means for maintaining an above atmosphere air pressure in the container to force the foamed material through said pipe into the closed mold without crushing the foam or subjecting it to an external air pressure greater than the air pressure within the foam cells.

2. Apparatus for filling vulcanizing molds with a foamed dispersion of a rubber-like material, comprising an air-tight container, a prefrother receptacle within the container and having means therein for foaming the rubber-like material, a sensitizing tubpositioned in the con tainer to receive the discharge foam from said receptacle, a foam delivery pipe leadin from the tub through a wall of the container to a mold, and means for maintaining an above atmosphere air pressure in the container to force the foamed material through said pipe into the mold without crushing the foam or subjecting it to an external air pressure greater than the air pressure within the foam cells.

RAYMOND A. HERRLY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,818,372 Battilani Aug. 11, 1931 2,114,275 Murphy et a1 Aug. 12, 1938 2,156,508 Minor May. 2, 1939 2,441,235 Blair et al. May 11, 1948 

1. APPARATUS FOR FILLING VULCANIZING MOLDS WITH A FOAMED DISPERSION OF A RUBBER-LIKE MATERIAL, COMPRISING AN AIR-TIGHT CONTAINER, A PREFROTHER RECEPTACLE WITHIN THE CONTAINER AND HAVING A POWER DRIVEN BEATER TO WHIP THE MATERIAL AND TUBES FOR SUPPLYING A LIQUID DISPERSION MATERIAL AND AIR TO THE LOWER PORTION OF THE RECEPTACLE, A SENSITIZING TUB POSITIONED IN THE CONTAINER TO RECEIVE THE DISCHARGED FOAM FROM SAID RECEPTACLE A FOAM DELIVERY PIPE LEADING FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE TUB THROUGH A WALL OF THE CONTAINER TO A CLOSED MOLD, AND MEANS FOR MAINTAINING AN ABOVE ATMOSPHERE AIR PRESSURE IN THE CONTAINER TO FORCE THE FOAMED MATERIAL THROUGH SAID PIPE INTO THE CLOSED MOLD WITHOUT CRUSHING THE FOAM OR SUBJECTING IT TO AN EXTERNAL AIR PRESSURE GREATER THAN THE AIR PRESSURE WITHIN THE FOAM CELLS. 